Science of the Sea: A Hawai‘i-Based Perspective of Oceanography

This textbook is for high school and college students taking an introduction to oceanography course or for those passionate about the ocean. The content is heavily focused on the Hawaiian islands' geographical location, unique features, scientific research, and Hawaiian culture.

Michelle Smith is a lecturer in Natural Sciences at Windward Community College. She teaches marine science, biology, and environmental science. She knew she wanted to be a marine biologist at age 12, so she wrote to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to learn more. She became a certified SCUBA instructor, which led her to teach marine science in the Caribbean and elsewhere. She participated in research on climate change at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, studied mangroves in Belize, fish behavior research in Bonaire, and corals at Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology. She moved to Hawai'i to finish her PhD on a one way first-class ticket and didn't look back. Her 2 boys also show a love for the ocean.

Macarena Burgos conducts her research as a post-doctorate at the University of Hawai'i. She is part of the Hawaiian Ocean Time-Series (HOT) program. This program has the longest record of oceanographic data after 30 years of measurements. She studied marine sciences at the Universidad de Cádiz, Spain, and after finishing her PhD she moved to Hawai'i to continue developing her passion for the ocean.

Floyd McCoy is a Professor of Oceanography, Geology and Geophysics at Windward Community College and on the Graduate Faculty in Earth Science at UH Mānoa. He focuses on marine geology and volcanoes in the east Mediterranean and Aegean Sea, as well as marine archeology sites in Greece and Italy. He has a PhD in Geological Sciences from Harvard University. He has held prior positions at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics as a Geophysicist, and at Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory as Curator and Director of the Core Laboratory, as Editor with the Deep Sea Drilling Project, and as a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.